As mentioned, when Margaret was nearing five she moved to downtown Toronto.
The street that they lived on “was a long one, with a high-steepled church
at either end.” Margaret’s family attended the closest one, St. John’s
Presbyterian Church. She described her time at this church, which
had a significant impact upon her,[ii] as growing up in “the heart of a
large evangelical church.” Margaret was active in church, though
she felt no kindred connection, remembering that she was different from
everyone she knew. Through memorization, Margaret won a hymnbook from her
Sunday School, which she would love to climb in a tree with to the highest
point possible and sing.

Margaret found great comfort and strength in hymns. Early they
were her solace as, before any sort of children’s church or programs existed,
she sat through entire services with their 45-minute sermons. She
would leaf through pages reading and noting authors and composers.
She gained a “sense of the community of saints” as she did this, which
“led naturally to a search for their other writings.”